Captive
by Aryn Block
Summary: Subject 12 has been a problem for the souls since she was captured, but on the eve of her execution, a fire breaks out in the mental facility and all five of the residents and personal disappear. As they are thrown into the world of the wild humans, the souls and Subject 12 must survive or face certain death.
1. Chapter 1

Gwen started as yet another pair of cold hands grasped her upper arms. She knew what was coming, but that didn't stop the fear – it only made it worse. It was always the same: hands grabbing, fumes filling her nose, and then blackness – there was always a sharp pain followed by the blackness. She tried to open her mouth, to scream, but her lips seemed to be sealed shut, her voice gone. _Gagged_, the small voice in her head said. Eyes flying open wide Gwen whipped her head back and forth, attempting to get the voice from her head.

_Shhhh_, the voice murmured, attempting to sooth her. _Calm down, darling_.

_Never_, Gwen hissed back, still unable to move her mouth. _You can't control me… I control me_. The little voice in her head laughed as Gwen plunged into the darkness of unconsciousness.

* * *

Floats Above Water looked down at the girl who had finally stilled and said, "She seems to have blurred the lines between reality and fantasy." The tall black woman looked down at the body that was lying on the table and observed the roughly shorn head of the girl. Floats nearly fell to the urge to touch the human, but drew her hand quickly away.

"Yes," replied Bertha, choosing to ignore her companion's reaction. "She has been like this for a few months now. Her body is useless as a host, but her mind is still useful. Any soul that can break through is bound to crack any wild human that is thrown their way."

"I agree," noted Floats, "but at what risk?" The woman flipped open a manila folder and slowly read in contents. "She was harvested during the second wave of souls arriving on Earth. She was given as a host, but within two months the soul was removed." Floats glanced at Bertha and asked, "Why is there no cause for the soul's removal written in this report?"

Bertha cleared her throat and said in an uneasy voice, "There is a lot of information about Subject 12 that was never placed in the files."

"Such as?"

Closing her eyes, Bertha tapped the file that was still in Floats' hands and said, "When Subject 12 was first issued as a host, she seemed to be in perfect condition. It wasn't until after the soul had been inserted for almost two months that the Healers noticed that something was amiss. It seemed that Subject 12 had some mental issues…" Bertha tapered off but at Floats' impatient glance continued. "Subject 12, upon further review was diagnosed with what the humans use to call 'Anxiety Disorder' but now it has seemed to have morphed into a sense of schizophrenia. Subject 12 can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy and that has been our main roadblock. The anxiety caused the first soul to incorrectly connect with the host, and those loose connections allowed Subject 12 to begin to tear apart the soul." Bertha shook her head and sadly said, "By the time we got them out, they were torn in multiple places and the host body was very close to being un-useable. We now use it to see how strong the souls are and if they can be placed into the captured humans."

"Is a soul in her now?" asked Floats as she wrapped her head around the very short narrative that Bertha had given her.

"No," replied Bertha. "The last soul was taken out three days ago and we usually allow the host body at least two weeks to heal before another soul is placed inside."

Floats shook her head once again and said, "I don't think any soul in their right mind would go into that host. She is much too unstable, and think of all that could go wrong."

Bertha nodded her head in agreement, but didn't say anything. She knew that if she told Floats that the last soul who was implanted into Subject 12 had died the final death that the host body would be disposed of, and that was something that Bertha couldn't do. She had too much invested into Subject 12 and wasn't about to give it all up because of one weak soul.

* * *

Gwen woke to a dim glow and the comfort of the familiar surroundings of her cell. The cell itself was not comfortable, but being inside of it meant that no one was inside of her. That little bit of knowledge made her smile. She was alone in her head and that felt wonderful. She had learned early on how to fight the parasites that invaded her body and her mind, but she learned also that when she did fight against them, they fought back.

The first parasite to enter her body had been interesting. Gwen hadn't known exactly what was happening, but she was still inside her brain, locked up in a tiny corner, unable to make a peep. She saw what the parasite saw and felt what the parasite felt, but Gwen had no control over her own body – that was until her body began to go into one of its nervous breakdowns. The stress of two minds inside of one body had sent her system into a tizzy, allowing Gwen to crawl out of her corner and take control of a small portion of her mind. She soon found out that the parasite wasn't as fully connected as it should have been; the stupid mutant had left its mind open for Gwen to see. Gwen took her opportunity and slowly began to rip apart the soul from inside her body, but the dangers of doing so had allowed the soul to twist parts of Gwen's own brain.

That first parasite was removed quickly and Gwen was sent to a facility far in the north. It was always cold where she was at, but her body had grown use to it. The souls came and went, never lasting for more than a few days, but each time they entered, a little bit more of Gwen's already fragile mind was shattered. Soon, she knew that there would be nothing left but the illusions that already haunted her every moment.

She shuddered and slumped against the hard wall. She wished so badly for freedom, but that seemed like a pipe dream. She was the parasite's own little science project, and as long as her body was in perfect help, she would be used as they desired. She knew this, and yet she still had the feeling that her end was near, that the last soul who had been placed inside of her, hadn't made it out alive. Gwen knew that the dawn would bring her death, and for some reason, that knowledge saddened her.

* * *

Floats Above Water pursed her lips at Bertha, showing her disagreement of her fellow soul's conduct. "The last soul that was placed inside of the host was killed," Floats hissed, anger bubbling up inside of her.

"Yes," said Bertha softly. "The soul died the final death while inside of the host. Subject 12 was stronger than the soul. It wasn't the host's fault."

Floats scoffed and hissed, "Do you care more about some warped human mind than the lives of your brothers and sisters?"

Bertha, shame crossing her brow, whispered, "I have worked so hard to fix her…"

"She is un-fixable," Floats nearly shouted. "Dispose of the body." Bertha began to object, but Floats yelled the words, "This is un-negotiable." With that, the soul stormed out of the room, her anger consuming her, and left Bertha in her misery with the knowledge that she would have to kill her project.


	2. Chapter 2

Part Two

Marcus slowly twirled his finger around is a slow circle, signaling his comrades in arms to begin. Along with Marcus, there were only four others, but their numbers were large enough. They had staked out the facility that they were in front of months ago and had been biding their time for the perfect moment – and that moment was upon them. They knew that there were only three parasites in the building, but the rest of the inhabitants were a mystery to the five men.

The five humans, rebels fighting for their lives, slowly moved in unison towards the front entrance of the building. Peter, seventeen and well built, was almost to the door when it swung open and a black woman stormed out into the cold air. As the woman passed him, Peter grabbed her, held her tight, and silently knocked her unconscious.

_One down, two to go_, thought Marcus as he gave Peter the nod and watched as the boy and one other entered the building. The remaining three circled around, slowly lighting fires as they went. The fires were contained to the building, creating an abundance of smoke to confuse the souls and would then slowly burn the building to the ground, giving the men enough time to search the facility for items that might be useful at their camp.

"Marc," hissed Bradley. "We're done. You good?"

"Yeah," whispered Marcus back as he drew near his friends. "Let's go find us some buggers." The three men let out cold laughs and quickly made their way into the building to help out Peter and their friend.

It was the smoke that woke Gwen up, she realized. That confused her, and the smoke was not helping her thoughts. It was billowing in through her air vent and she knew that it would soon kill her. That thought triggered some primal instinct in her, a will to live, that sent her scrambling.

Gwen lurched forward and crawled across the floor to the small nook that was created by a broken brick in her cell. She reached into the nook and felt the cool, reassuring metal of her pendant. She slipped it around her neck and felt the solid weight of the silver compass in the crevice between her breasts. With that deed done, she crawled over to the door and began to fight for her life.

Marcus and Bradley, along with Peter worked their way through the rooms at a quick pace. The three souls that they had captured were tied up, unconscious, and being watched by the youngest in their party. The fifth member was packing up medical supplies for their camp's use.

The men were at the lower level, completely underground, when they heard the clawing sounds. They shared wide eyed looks and then allowed Marcus to take the lead. Marcus began down the long hall that stretched out in front of them, opening doors as he did so. As soon as he opened one door, Bradley or Peter would glance in through the smoke and check the room.

At the last door, Marcus held up a hand and slowly swung it open. From the inside, a figure slumped forward and crawled into the clearer air. Peter and Bradley roughly grabbed the figure and drug it into the hall as Marcus swung the door back shut. "Grab it," he ordered Bradley as he stalked back down the hall and up the stairs. Peter followed quickly, leaving Bradley to hastily grab the figure and swing it over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Marcus quickly ushered all of his men out of the now blazing building and into the crisp night air. They all breathed in deeply and watched as Bradley roughly dropped the figure on the ground in front of three souls.

Upon seeing the souls, the figure quickly scooted backwards coming into contact with Marcus's legs. It looked up and for the first time, Marcus lost his breath. The figure was a girl, and a beautiful one at that. Her eyes were a green so pale that they seemed to borderline white. Her copper hair was roughly cut, the ends of her hair not even touching her ears. Her skin was pale, bruises marring the soft texture. She wore a thin brown shift like dress and soft slippers, causing her to shiver with cold. The light from the burning building shone in her eyes causing the other four men to gasp as they realized that she was not another soul but a human like themselves.

Shedding his coat, Marcus knelt before the girl and gently wrapped the large coat around her shoulders. "Thank you," she whispered in a scratchy voice, pulling the coat closer to her body.

"You're welcome," replied Marcus. "I am Marcus. What is your name?"

"Gwen," she replied softly before slipping into the blackness that was always welcoming.

Marcus stared down at the woman, for she was much too beautiful to be a girl, and then up at his friends. "Home?" he asked, unsure about his decision.

"And the other bodies?" asked one of the men.

"Kill them," replied Marcus, not having the energy to deal with the souls or the bodies. The others raised an eyebrow but did as they were told, leaving Marcus, Bradley, and Gwen alone as they drug the bodies into the woods to dispose of them.

Bradley peered at Marcus and wordlessly asked his question. Knowing that a response was needed, Marcus said, "Look at what they did to her." He pointed at Gwen and her shaking form. Bradley looked down upon her and saw what his friend saw: carelessly shaved hair, multiple incision marks on the back of her neck, bloodied nails and partially healed wounds from those nails. "They tortured her."

"Let's pack up and get back home," whispered Bradley as he gave Marcus an awkward pat on the back. Marcus nodded and gingerly picked Gwen up before heading back to the cargo van they had hidden in the trees surrounding the burning building.

The gentle sway of a moving vehicle brought Gwen back to the waking world. She was sitting on the lap of the man who had talked to her before. _Marcus_ whispered the tiny voice inside Gwen's head. Gwen moaned, attempting to rid herself of the invasion, and was surprised when no other words came from the voice. The moan though brought Marcus's attention to her. "Hello," he said softly.

Gwen didn't reply but instead gazed up at her rescuer. He had chestnut colored hair that curled around his ears and was almost in need of a haircut. His chocolate brown eyes looked upon her with concern as she studied him. He was quite a bit larger than she was, nearly six foot two compared to her five foot five inch stance. He was also very muscular, broad shoulders that seemed to have the ability to carry the world caught her attention first. Gwen felt tiny in his arms, and she supposed that she was.

"We are heading back to our home," said Marcus softly, using a tone of voice that surprised the other men in the van. Usually their leader was borderline harsh, but talking to the girl in his arms, he was gentle. "Bradley is driving, Peter is in the passenger seat, and back here with us are Tim and Tom." He continued speaking to her, looking into Gwen's green eyes as the van made its way through the trees to their destination.


End file.
